KITCHEN PRACTICE 3 — Mince Garlic Properly
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TASK
Crush a clove with the flat of your blade to loosen the skin, remove
it, then mince as finely as you can. You'll reuse this exact skill
directly in Chapter 5's own flavour-building work.

WALKTHROUGH

Step 1 — Crush the clove.
Lay the flat side of your chef's knife over an unpeeled garlic clove.
With the heel of your hand, press down firmly once on the flat of the
blade (keep fingers well clear of the edge). This cracks the skin and
loosens it from the clove in one motion.

Step 2 — Peel and trim.
Remove the loosened skin. Trim off the tough root end at the base of
the clove — it doesn't soften with cooking and is worth removing.

Step 3 — Rough chop first.
Don't try to mince a whole clove in one go. Give it a rough chop first
— a few cuts across, a few lengthwise — to break it into smaller,
manageable pieces.

Step 4 — Fine mince.
Gather the rough-chopped pieces into a small pile. Using the claw grip,
rock your knife tip repeatedly over the pile (tip staying roughly in
one spot on the board, the heel of the blade doing the work), scraping
the pile back together with the flat of the blade every few passes.
Keep going until it's as fine as you can practically get it — close to
a paste.

Step 5 — Compare to a crushed clove.
If you have a garlic press or crusher available, try crushing a second
clove with it and compare. A press gives a wetter, more uniform paste;
a hand-minced clove keeps slightly more texture. Neither is wrong —
recipes sometimes specify one or the other for a reason, and now you
can tell the difference by eye.

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WHY THIS MATTERS
Garlic is minced, not diced, specifically because you want its flavour
distributed evenly through a dish rather than showing up as
identifiable pieces — exactly the distinction this chapter's own cuts
table draws between mince and the other core cuts. This is also the
exact technique Chapter 5 assumes you already have, so getting it
comfortable now saves friction later.